


A melody that sets me free (Your love is like a Symphony)

by Oriki-Miitad (Sneaking_UnicornWitch)



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Clone Trooper Culture (Star Wars), Coda, Developing Relationship, Happy Ending, M/M, Now featuring a penguin, Order 66 Didn't Happen (Star Wars), Other mentioned relationships Anakin/Padmé Bly/Aayla Clone/Clone etc, POV Obi-Wan Kenobi, Pining, Soulmates, Thoughts about Kamino, it's about the yearning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29683278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneaking_UnicornWitch/pseuds/Oriki-Miitad
Summary: Obi-Wan had always known he was different.Think Codywan Soulmate AU, but with Happy Feet vibes!
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 22
Kudos: 199





	1. Allegro

**Author's Note:**

> Title and original inspiration comes from Sheppard’s lovely song [Symphony](https://youtu.be/M_e5Gbd1pbs) which is a bop. This has been rattling around my brain and evolving since July, I hope you enjoy it!

Obi-Wan had always known he was different. 

There were dances that everyone in the temple learned, simple ones in the creche, gaining complexity as they moved into the initiate dorms and then, hopefully, became Padawans. Knights had specific choreographies to learn for their ceremonies, and the dances specific to the four council performances were truly pieces of art in their own right.

His crechemates moved with grace, poise, elegance. They curled around each other like parts of a whole, caught up in the motions and emotions. His awful nickname, courtesy of Bruck, was Oafy-Wan. He was clumsy, stumbling first through creche dances and then later was even worse at the initiate ones. The easy grace of his friends was out of reach for Obi-Wan,he wasn’t ever able to move like that - no matter how he tried. He couldn’t help but be jealous of them, even as he tried so hard not to be.

He was fairly sure it was one of the reasons he’d almost aged out, why nobody had chosen to take him on and train him as a Padawan.

It wasn’t like he _couldn’t_ move fluidly. His katas were more than fine, and Battlemaster Drallig often chose him as a demonstrator for their staffwork. When in battle he was able to listen to the Force, let it guide him through his actions. 

But he couldn’t dance. Not like the others could.

As they grew up, individuals would create their own dances, and find the one, or ones, who complemented them. The clubs and public spaces on Coruscant were often filled with dancing and music, and the halls of the temple were too.

The heartdances didn’t mean the people had to share a romantic relationship, although they weren’t uncommon. Although there was a connection between them it was just as likely to remain platonic, even once they grew to know one another. Within the Jedi it was not frowned upon to be intimate with your heartdance partner, so long as nobody strayed into dangerous attachments, but outside of one's soulmates it was considered somewhat taboo.

It was a time for celebration, when someone found their soulmate and their heartdance was complete. So many ceremonies existed to commemorate the occasion, and it felt like dancing was at the core of each and every one. He tried his hardest not to disgrace his lineage when Master Kolar found their second heartdance partner, staying to the side of the hall and only slightly fumbling through the steps of the courtly dance.

Not everyone found their soulmate, of course. Obi-Wan considered the likelihood of finding his, sometimes, and wondered who would want a dance partner as clumsy as him.

Garen had tried to describe it to Obi-Wan once, not long after he’d found his soulmate. He’d said it was like a coming together, that he’d just instinctively known the way to move in his partner’s dance the first time they’d taken to the floor. He couldn’t imagine ever just… fitting into someone’s dance like that.

So yes, it was disheartening. Many Jedi found their soulmates within the order, some on missions outside the temple or just through daily life itself. But Obi-Wan had never found anyone who said they simply knew how to move themselves along to his clunky movements, and he certainly didn’t fill the empty space in anyone else’s heartdance.

*****

The mission with Satine and Master Qui-Gon was a welcome respite from the pitying looks that his peers and the older Jedi gave his pathetic dance attempts, although it also raised more questions than helped solve his problem. 

Obi-Wan had been in his berth the first time he heard Satine sing. It was beautiful, haunting. Obi-Wan felt like he could touch the feeling in it, the way that the music travelled down the corridors of the small ship, wrapping itself around him. He’d not disturbed Satine, instead just sitting in silence to eavesdrop on the ethereal melody.

A few weeks later, and with no more singing in the interim, he bucked up the courage to ask her about it. What song had it been? Did it have words?

“You don’t know what a _kar’ta’laar_ is, Ben? A heartsong?” she’d replied, obviously confused. Her tone was that of someone speaking to a child, and it made him feel small.

“No.” Maybe this conversation had not been the best idea, but this had definitely not been in any of the political or cultural briefings he’d read up on before the mission. “I’ve only ever heard about heartdances.”

That had been the start of learning more about Mandalorian culture, about their language and traditions. Before, Satine had been aloof and cold, but she opened up to Obi-Wan as she discussed her wishes for the future of Mandalore and her family’s hope for her own future. Obi-Wan couldn’t fully understand the hard line of absolute pacifism, but he admitted that he didn’t share the same history as Satine did.

She’d been saddened when he confessed to her that, although he could feel her singing in his heart, he didn’t know how to sing along. Not that he couldn’t sing, no. The Mando’a songs she taught him sounded right in his head, and Satine said they sounded lovely. But he never quite knew how to match her heartsong. They weren’t soulmates, _runi’riduure_.

Satine had cupped his cheek and brought their foreheads to rest together before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. 

He didn’t hear her sing again.

*****

Obi-Wan forgot all about heartsongs, about finding a partner entirely, in the aftermath of Qui-Gon’s death and taking on Anakin as his Padawan. He had someone relying on him, and the weight of his Master's last words a heavy yoke around his neck. Anakin certainly kept him busy enough.

He never did ask Anakin what soulmate traditions there may have been on Tatooine, not even once Quinlan had been dispatched to find her only to report that he'd found her Free and with a husband. Instead he focused instead on helping his young apprentice to fit in with the younglings his age at the temple. This was an opportunity for him to give Anakin what he himself hadn’t had. Anakin was a natural dancer, his style effervescent even while dancing the very structured temple dances. Some of the older Jedi disapproved of him at first, especially given Obi-Wan's own reputation within the Order, but he quickly wormed his way into everyone's hearts. Anakin and Aayla were frequently found dancing to the music of the flowing water in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

Constantly on the move, Anakin had struggled with meditation until Obi-Wan had included movement into their routine. Master Yoda had merely smiled when Obi-Wan brought his feelings to his Grandmaster, and had made the suggestion that “from outside the Order, may young Skywalker’s dance partner be, hmm?”

Ten years later, the Grandmaster was proven correct, when they had been tasked with defending now-a-Senator Padmé Amidala. Obi-Wan had wandered into the low lit living room in the middle of the night to find his Padawan and the Senator dancing around each other, grinning wildly. 

He’d left them to it, and had quietly congratulated his Padawan the next day, but then the chase had been on to hunt for the assassin and to protect Padmé, and there had been no time for further celebration.


	2. Andante

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Cody and the Wan meet, and Obi-Wan learns more about his men.

Kamino had been awful, Geonosis managed to be somehow worse. 

The only shining lights, which Obi-Wan clung to dearly, were all his men in the Third System Army, and particularly those in the 212th - who he was often literally the closest to. They were bright in the force, technicolour emotions bubbling up all over the place. It was easy to get caught up in their moods, and he enjoyed spending time with them in the mess hall - or, as time went on, the rec room and training salles.

He was closest to his Commander, Cody. They would often chat well into the night, not just about tactics for upcoming battles, but also literature, astronomy, xenobiology. Cody was an excellent conversation partner, always eager to debate or explore topics he’d not learnt in his military-focused training. Obi-Wan never brought up soulmates or heartdances though. He knew that some of the clones, the _Vode_ , had partnered up, but it felt invasive to demand to know what traditions they may have developed on Kamino.

At least some of their culture was clearly Mandalorian, influenced by the Cuy’val Dar and the Alpha batches trained by Fett - the Prime - himself. The basis of their language for one. But other pieces he could see were Kaminoan based, like the UV markings they used on their ships, armour, and bunks. Yet others were less easy to pin down. The ‘battlesign’ they used was nothing like he’d come across during his time with Satine. According to Cody it had been developed by their Alpha-class big brothers, and then disseminated down the ranks. Even young troopers who weren’t fluent in standard Mando’a could flash battlesign as quick as a quosit.

The two of them grew ever closer, until Obi-Wan couldn’t be sure what life without Cody had been like. He was sure it must have been lonely. His heart was overflowing with love for all his men, he greatly valued his relationships with all of them, but it was Cody who he held in the very highest regard. To be sure, at least part of it must have been because he had the most contact with his Commander, but they also just meshed together so well. 

Obi-Wan knew he would endure anything for one of Cody’s rare smiles or a story about his brothers.

He got some unexpected insight into the _Vode_ ’s traditions one day after a never-ending slog of awful battles in a tougher than tough campaign. Their entire time on the planet had been a wash-out, a miserable affair that was - thankfully - now over. He and the men had dripped their ways back aboard the Negotiator, ripe and wiped out. Some of the men on the lartie had fallen asleep standing up, testament to their exhaustion.

Rather than risking incurring the mousedroids’ wrath on the longer trip to the Officers’ Berthing - one of them had made a threat of unionising he was only mostly sure was in jest - he and Cody had instead opted for the communal ‘freshers a good few decks lower, heading in with everyone else.

The noise in the ‘freshers was deafening, a ruckus of plastoid and bodies. With the hiss of the sonics and shouting men it almost felt like he was still on the battlefield. 

But then above all the racket, a voice breaking out in a wordless song. A _kar’ta’laar_. 

Obi-Wan’s breath stuttered as he felt the music wrap around him just as it had all those years before. Just as beautiful, just as easy to get caught up in. Cody gave him a sideways glance and he forced himself to unfreeze, nodding a small smile before getting on with his ablutions and making sure to keep his eyes and thoughts to himself.

Other voices joined the song, though he could innately feel that none of them fitted quite right. In the end it descended into a rousing rendition of a distinctly _Vode_ version of Seven Drunken Nights, and Obi-Wan ushered himself out of the fresher before they remembered he was there and got embarrassed. 

Cody joined him in his quarters later that evening, as had become usual for them. After they’d decompressed, had spoken a little about Ahsoka and Rex, and with a mug of hot tea (plus a splash of something extra, a treat after the awful campaign) to centre himself he asked his most dear Commander about the singing.

“Well, General—”

“Please, my dear. Obi-Wan is fine.”

“Yessir,” Cody carried on like he’d never interrupted. “It’s like your heartdances.” … “Sir.”

The clones knew about heartdances? They tended to be a Core Regions tradition, although there were certainly exceptions. The Kaminoans had taught Cody and his brothers much about the Jedi they would be serving under, far more than the Jedi really knew about the clones, but Obi-Wan couldn’t imagine them covering such fanciful things as soulmates and dances. 

He must have looked shocked enough, because Cody continued, “My squadmate, Bly. We all thought he was a bit… weird, I guess, Sir? His songs never came out quite right, never _felt_ right. But he’s Commander of the 327th Star Corps now, serving under General Secura,” -Obi-Wan could see where this was going- “and he told us about these amazing dances she does, how you can feel the beat under your skin even when there’s no music. He says it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.” 

Obi-Wan felt a little choked up at hearing the practically reverent near-awe in Cody’s tone; he’d never heard his Commander sound like that. “And your brother has danced with Master Secura?” he encouraged Cody to go on. It sounded like Bly’s partner might be a Core Worlder, rather than a _vod_. One Core Worlder in particular, perhaps. Quin would be giddy.

“Ah, no Sir.” Cody rubs at the back of his neck, one of his few tells, one he only permits himself with his brothers or Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan had preened the first time he’d realised that he was included in that lucky number. “Not that I know of, anyway. Not many of the trainers included that kind of thing.” Not many wasn’t none, and Obi-Wan was intrigued by who among the trainers might have included dance lessons. “But General Secura told the men about heartdances when they asked. It’s what you Jedi do, right, Sir? To find your _runi’riduur_?”

In this, again, it seemed the _Vode_ took after their Mandalorian template. 

He hummed, inclining his head. “Most Jedi, yes. It’s also found more generally among the inner planets. With variations, of course. The Durosians have been known to use flags, as I understand it.”

They chatted a little more, drinks gone long cold, before a pause occurred. Obi-Wan held onto the silence as he felt Cody warring with a question. They were on the precipice of something, and he could only wait as the moment stretched on. Everything narrowed to this one moment. But he couldn’t rush it, Cody would speak when he was ready.

“Do you have a heartdance, General? Only, I’ve never seen you dance - except like you do on the battlefield.”

Force bless Cody for his earnestness. Obi-Wan couldn’t deny him a question asked with good intentions, no matter the personal shame he may have attached with the answer. His ears pinked as he looked away to the lamiplast floor, tracing the gouges and imperfections with his eyes as he spoke. “I rather think I have your squadmate's issue, or its ilk,” he finally managed to get out. “I have two left feet, I’m afraid. I did learn the temple dances, but I’m absolutely awful at dancing. Always have been.”

Cody didn’t laugh at him, nor was there any pity. Just his usual bright and earnest self, still with an edge of curiosity. He didn’t deserve his Commander. “I can’t imagine you being awful at anything, Si- Obi-Wan. But… So... no heartdance? Your partner isn’t, they’re not a Jedi?”

“I don’t have a partner, Cody, and I don’t have a heartdance.” The Force around Cody pulsed warm, ringing with gentle joy. He tried so hard not to read meaning in the emotional burst. “I suppose my soulmate simply has a different way of finding the one for them.” Obi-Wan didn’t want to imply too much, not when he knew so little about the _Vode_. Not when they had so little for themselves.

He could wait. The future was yet to come, and he’d be happy to have Cody at his side for it, in whatever capacity Cody wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 :)
> 
> I'm on tumblr [here](https://oriki-miitad.tumblr.com/), come say hi!


	3. Minuet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with infinitely more penguins! Robert the Force-Sensitive penguin belongs to Tessa (TessaDoesThings), and can first be found here.

Months came and went, battles were ferocious awful things. It didn’t become normal, as such, but time did seem to have all sludged together. They lost so many engagements, so many men. He felt... unmoored.

The men became more comfortable around him, and he’d been convinced to teach some dancing lessons in the largest training room during the long slogs through hyperspace. Just as Cody had hinted, some of the clones did in fact have some basic dance skills. 

One of the trainers had included Nubian Ballet in his training, ostensibly to work on precision and poise, but the clones who had been taught by him agreed that it also gave them some downtime on Kamino. Obi-Wan knew he likely wouldn’t ever get a chance to meet Llats Ward and ask, but he’d wondered quite how it was that the Mandalorian had even learnt ballet in the first place.

Obi-Wan took them through the creche dances, and then the initiate ones. It turned out he wasn’t really a particularly clumsy dancer at all, and could lead the clones through the steps a lot better than he remembered being. He wondered if maybe Bly wasn’t a bad singer, they were both just being held to a standard they would have no chance of ever meeting. 

After they’d made their way through the group and individual dances he worked with them on dancing in pairs. It wasn’t often they could swing it, having both the High General and Marshal Commander off-duty at the same time simply wasn’t feasible with regularity, but his preferred dance partner was Cody. Even on the first demonstration he seemed to pick up where Obi-Wan was going to move to, just like on the battlefield. They worked together so well, and Obi-Wan frequently had to stop himself from reaching out and taking more contact from his Commander than had been offered. When Cody couldn’t attend he tried to alternate who he chose as his victim for the day, but it seemed everyone recognised that if the Commander was there then the option to be Obi-Wan’s dance partner wasn’t up for grabs.

He remembered fondly walking into one of the barracks on inspection to find two of the older _vode_ coaching a shiny new trooper through his basic steps. He’d left them to it, backing out of the room before they caught sight of him, but he was buoyed by the memory for the rest of the day.

Outside of the dances, life continued. The mess hall was often full of overlapping songs during meal times. Occasionally he’d hear the moment that two voices meshed, a beautiful experience that made his heart ache. It was always a cause for celebration, _vode_ cheering on the lucky clones. He always approved any bunk reassignments with a happy heart.

Men who met their soulmates on campaign were the worst. Obi-Wan couldn’t imagine how awful it must be to have found the ones who complete you only to be forcibly separated. Promises for ‘after the war’ meant so little when there was no guarantee you’d be there for it. Some of them were marked as KIA after an engagement, and he was glad for them.

Rush was one of those clones, a clone who shared Bly and Obi-Wan’s difficulties, and it had been clear from the moment they set foot on Onderon that he’d be staying. It was one of the few times that completing the casualty list hadn’t felt like his emotions were fraying away.

In one of the stranger moments of the war, the 104th actually gained a member on one campaign. Robert was probably the most unusual man in the Wolfpack - mostly owing to the fact he was, in fact, a penguin. 

As far as Obi-Wan _knew_ Robert didn’t have a heartsong or a heartdance, but stranger things had happened in hyperspace, and he’d seen enough in his time as a Jedi to rule out any possibility. The flightless bird was sentient and force-sensitive, and so presumably had a soulmate somewhere in the galaxy.

Never, not once, on any of the planets or aboard ship, did he hear the song for him though. When camped out they’d sometimes light a fire, and sing tunes with lyrics so specific to the lives of the clones he knew they must be original compositions. There were also songs he knew from his mission with Satine, and he loved to join in with those. It settled something deep in his core, not unlike a cathartic meditation could, to sing along with the brothers.

Intuitively he just knew that his heartsong was a _vod_ , rather than a Mandalorian. But that still left an immensely huge number of potential partners. They may not be within the 212th, or even under his command at all. In a way, that would be better - he’d hate to have such a level of authority over whoever completed him - but that meant the likelihood of ever meeting would be even slimmer. In the privacy of his own quarters he’d sometimes sing to himself, imagining what it might be like to have someone else there singing with him.

He found out through Quinlan that Aayla had found her heartdance partner, although not _who_ , and was then proudly informed by Cody that Bly had _finally grown his gett’se and danced with his General_. Finally, through the wonders of a diverse information network, he found out from Captain Rex that it had been Cody who had long-distance coached Bly through some of the temple dances by weekly holocomms. 

The video of Aayla and Bly dancing together, slightly shaky and obviously recorded on a Star _vod_ ’s bucket cam, was possibly one of the sweetest things Obi-Wan had ever seen. It made the rounds of the GAR private chats incredibly fast, and Boil still maintained there had been something in his eye when he was caught watching it alone in the bunkroom.

Meanwhile, his friendship with Commander Cody only grew. 

The two of them continued to socialise outside of work and battle, when they could. Obi-Wan had begun to teach Cody lightsaber forms. They were sparring regularly. They ate most meals together. They shared stories of their childhoods, and Obi-Wan cursed Jango Fett and the Kaminiise more with everything he learned. But Cody never talked about his own heartsong, and he never - ever - sang. Obi-Wan wondered if perhaps he might have found his partner already, maybe even while growing up. His heart broke when he realised Cody’s _kar’ta’laar_ may not have made it this far. Their time on Kamino was no less a battleground than the war was.

One night, like any other night before or after it, his life changed. 

Walking through the camp - two of the planet’s three moons overhead - he heard something breathtaking. The song was so beautiful, a deep richness that warmed him despite the chill of the air. It was hauntingly familiar, like it was carved into his soul, like he’d always known it. It didn’t matter where he’d been heading. He turned and ran in search of the singer, silently begging them not to stop. He kept his eyes closed, searching with the Force, as he tried to follow the melody. He could feel his heart leaping and he couldn’t contain himself as he walked closer. He _needed_ to sing, in a way he’d never felt before. The melody had been in him all along and it dripped from his lips like honey as he ran closer. Somehow, and he’d never have been able to explain it if asked, he knew just what to do. It was exactly like Garen had said all those years ago, it was instinctive and true. It simply… was. 

The Force flung up around him and he pulled up to a stop, opening his eyes. Laying around one of the small fires was a group of his men out of armour. At their feet there most definitely weren’t a few bottles of the alcohol that the 212th definitely wasn’t making in the still that definitely hadn’t been set up in engineering. Facing away from him was the source of the song, and though Obi-Wan couldn’t see who it was he simply **knew** in his soul that the man was his Commander. He knew in a way he’d only hoped for, settling in his bones, in his soul.

Still singing the _kar’ta’laar_ from his heart, he came near. Some of the other clones gasped at his presence, but Cody simply got up from the floor and gathered Obi-Wan in a tight embrace, holding him close as their song swirled on, wrapping itself firmly around his very soul.

Finally, at the same time, the two of them stopped. Obi-Wan’s eyes were blurry with tears, overwhelmed with the emotion of finally finding his heartsong, even as he released the feeling into the Force. He could feel its joy in the moment. 

Cody pulled his head forwards with a hand on the back of his neck, knocking their foreheads together. “I always knew it was you, _cyare_. Your heart sings to me,” his soulmate spoke into being.

“Yes, my dear Cody. The song starts and ends with you,” he agreed.

Epilogue: Finale 

The war is over, the clones have received their discharges, and the two of them are free to start a new life together without wars or ranks.

Those who had found their partners during the war were free to be with them as they chose, and there was a constant revolving swirl of brothers moving around to accommodate _runi’riduure_ as best they could. Demobilising seems somehow to be infinitely more challenging than actually fighting the war had been. 

It’s all worth it.

Finally, though, it has calmed down enough to allow Obi-Wan, no longer a General, and his partner, no longer a Commander, the chance to have the ceremony he’d dreamed of all those years below. 

Cody is standing next to him, their family is surrounding them, and he’s bowled over by the love he can feel from everyone in the Force.

The two of them sing out, as Rex winds gold bands around their joined hands. He’s overjoyed, Cody’s emotions are spilling over the growing bond between them, and after all the grief and sorrow this is the limit of his control. He cries with happiness as he sings, and knows he must look a mess. Cody doesn’t seem to mind though, pulling him in to touch their foreheads together as they continue their heartsong and share breath until they stop on the same beat.

Anakin and Padme, along with the rest of the Jedi and even Bly, then take to the floor. They move through the steps that offer a wish for good fortune and happiness, and that much, he has expected, as he narrates the meanings to Cody in a low whisper. He’d never taught the _Vode_ these dances. What takes him by surprise is the _Vode_ in their number singing along, providing backing music for the dance. He knows this song, Satine had taught it to him long ago, it’s meant to be sung at the joining of _aliit_. All he can do is cling onto Cody tight as their family, their whole family, comes together to celebrate their union.

The two of them sway slightly as they watch the dance and listen to the song. So long as he has Cody to hold him close, it can’t matter what the future has in store for them, his heartsong won’t ever drift off key.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we are! I hope you enjoyed this, I certainly enjoyed writing it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr [here](https://oriki-miitad.tumblr.com/), come say hi!


End file.
